Custodian
by N. Kage
Summary: A Captain in the Custodian Guard works to uncover a plot to assassinate the Emperor from within the Imperial Palace. Chapters 13 have been edited, with a new chapter 5 in the works.
1. Beginnings of Trouble

Captain LeKan hurried along the ancient, dusty corridors of the Emperors Great Palace on the most holy of worlds, Terra, his venerable Guardian Spear held at the ready in front. Behind him, ran a squad of ten Custodian Guard, all in the same pose. An alarm had been sounded by the venerable machine-spirit that watched over the outer courtyard and word was that a false pilgrim had smuggled a bomb onto Terra and was trying to force his way to the Emperors chambers. He would never get there.

The Adeptus Custodies, or Custodian Guard, were the Emperors personal bodyguard and had done so since the Emperor walked amongst His people, ten-thousand years in the past, before He was mortally wounded by the Arch-Traitor Horus and interred on the Golden Throne. The armor and weapon that LeKan carried had been used in the great conflict that had preceded that event, the Horus Heresy and had not failed in that brutal conflict. They had not failed any of their wielders, even with the many scars of battle that marred their exquisite surfaces; a newer pattern blade, dozens of magnetically-clamped icons thanking the armors machine-spirit for its service, and the tall, shining M3 helmet, the helmet pattern used during the Horus Heresy by the Custodians. He would not do the machine-spirits shame by failing in his duty.

LeKan stopped at what seemed to be a solid wall and pressed his palm against a seemingly solid stone. The stone slid in smoothly and a doorway opened, revealing a well-lit hall that ran straight for what seemed like miles. The Imperial Palace was honey-combed with such passages and the Custodian Guard used them in times like these. The last time this particular passage had been used was by the Daughters of the Emperor during Vandires Reign of Blood. LeKan could still see their boot-tread in the dust. It was obviously a smaller power-armor patterned boot, which is why he could tell.

The heavily armored Custodians ran swiftly through the passage, uncaring they were disturbing the ancient dust. Ancient tapestries lined the passage, depicting the Great Crusade, some ten millennia in the past. Battles, crusades and liberations that no-one could remember were detailed exquisitely, often in graphic, if slightly parodied images. The tapestries were made of a material that even LeKan had not come across before in his two centuries of service as a Guardian of the Emperor. The material was organic, and yet metallic at the same time and had lasted for the last ten-thousand years with poor maintenance at best.

LeKan stopped again, once more at an unmarked wall. He repeated the motion, this time the stone slide in with a great grinding noise, for this passage had been damaged during the assassination of Vandire, when the Custodians defended the palace once again, except this time they fought against men loyal to the Imperium and defended a man whose actions almost destroyed that Imperium.

To the great crowds of pilgrims outside, it seemed that the gold-powered armored giants stepped out of the solid walls. Even more pilgrims than usual were outside, for in just two days time, the festival of the Emperors Light would be occurring on countless worlds and on that day, the Emperor was said to walk amongst His people in disguise and help the ill and aged. It was a noble thought.

The masses of pilgrims, shuffling in the shadow of the mile-high Palace of the Emperor, who had spent years just traveling to this most holy of sites, were screaming and yelling in anger. Standing at the center of an open circle, was a lone man, dressed in a long robe, as was typical of the pilgrims. Except this man had web-gear and harnesses on his body, with grenades and demolition charges tied to every available surface. He was slowly working his way towards the first of the 1111 steps that lead upwards towards the Halls of Honor, where the banners of the most decorated Imperial Guard regiments and Space Marine chapters were displayed. From there, there were 2222 steps that lead to Custodies training halls and armories. No one made it that far, save the High Lords of Terra. From that dark and mysterious place, a further 333 steps lead to the Emperor's Throne room, were He sat, on the Golden Throne. Two squads of Custodian Guard were constantly on watch in and around that room, ready to thwart any threat to the Emperors life.

LeKan began to force his way through the crowds of braying pilgrims, the masses refusing to let him by, even with his obvious stature and strength, as well as his silver sashes of rank. He saw forced to use the haft of his Guardian Spear, a combination boltgun and power-axe. Finally, the captain emerged in the clear circle around the false-pilgrim.

"G..ge..get away from me! I blow you all to the warp!" the false-pilgrim screamed, his arms shaking and hands inches away from grenade pins and demolition fuses.

Before LeKan could respond, the pilgrim's upper body exploded in a shower of blood and bone. The explosives on his body detonated with him and all the pilgrims within one-hundred meters were flattened. Those within twenty meters were shredded by the explosion. LeKan spun and used his shoulder-guard to protect his head. Even though he wore the signature tall and elaborate helmet of the Custodian Guard, the explosion was at least enough to puncture the ceramite armor.

LeKan straightened and saw what had killed the false-pilgrim. Another squad of Custodian Guard was forcing their way through the crowds, often striking at pilgrims too slow to get out of their way. At their fore, was Captain Tolbek, of the Custodian Third Tier. All of the Custodian Guard were grim, hard men, who had fought in two sieges of Terra, the first in the Horus Heresy and then defended against forces of Sebastian Thor, until Vandire was slain by the very women who had once defended him, the Daughters of the Emperor, who were to become the Sisters of Battle. However, Tolbek was viscous and when the pilgrims got out of hand, he favored brutal, heavy handed crowd control and because he had seen the Emperors shattered body, he was rumored to be lacking in his faith. He had been recruited from the semi-feral tribes that infested the lower reaches of great hives. LeKan was fanatical in his devotion to the Emperor and the Emperor's cause, but was even-handed in his judgment and temperament. The two were naturally at odds at all times, and the Chief Custodian had disciplined them for their infighting numerous times.

"Well meet, Captain Tolbek." LeKan spoke through the internal vox, to the pilgrims outside, the circle of open ground now extended around the twenty Custodians.

"Captain LeKan, I thought I would find you doing nothing about this situation."

"As you proved by opening fire, hundreds of pilgrims died. I was trying to prevent those deaths."

"If you spent as much time guarding the Imperial Palace as you did in the Librarium, you would have known that negotiation was pointless."

"You know that I have been sanctioned by Chief Custodian Agricolus to uncover more about the hidden passages honeycombing the Palace, which is vital to defending the Palace, and in turn, the Emperors life. Would you like to bring the matter before him?"

"Not this time, LeKan. But if I think you are lax in your duties, I will unhesitantly have you executed for dereliction of duty."

"The same to you, Tolbek." Finished LeKan, trying to contain his rage.

Tolbek's squad melted back into the distance, disappearing into the side of the Imperial Palace. LeKan stood and watched for a moment, before spinning on his heel and confronting his squad.

"Men like that have ruined the Imperium. Never forget that rivalry disrupts both parties and neither emerges from the struggle stronger. Never forget!"

"We will never forget, Captain." The squad responded as one.


	2. Ominous warnings

LeKan now walked alone through the silent and dusty corridors of the Imperial Palace, a glowing data-slate in his hands. Few servitors were in this wing and the age hung in the air like fog, undisturbed for centuries. It was a dark wing, for the illumination-strips in the walls and ceiling were either damaged or had burned out long ago. Technologies such as the illumination-strips were rare, they were paper-thin, and glowed with an internal light. The Adeptus Mechanicus simply couldn't replicate them in any numbers now, and the cheaper 'glow-globes' were more common, but did not have as much life. It was a trade, of sorts.

While in the Librarium, LeKan had come across an interesting tome, detailing the defense of the Gold Wing, the south-eastern wing of the Imperial Palace, during the Horus Heresy. The tome, written by a Custodian by the name of Haldon-Tai, mentioned a storeroom of data-slates that contained detailed plans of the Imperial Palace. The storeroom was well-hidden, for if Horus had stumbled upon such information, the defenders of the Palace would have a much harder time.

The parts of the tome detailing the location of the storeroom were both encoded and gave directions based on starting in a Custodian training hall that had long been abandoned, due to structure damage that had been inflicted in the Heresy.

LeKan had started his search at that training hall. It had taken him almost two hours just to find the location, but what he found was amazing. The floor was buckled, but everything else was almost completely intact. Banners hung from the ceiling in great rows above the dormitories, depicting the Emperor, the first High Lords of Terra and several figures that LeKan did not know. He had carefully taken two of the banners down and stowed them in a void-box so the Librarians could take a look at them. From the time he had found the training hall, he was mapping the area with a data-slate, for future generations of Custodies to travel to.

The training hall itself was incredible. At least a square mile of obstacle courses, gunnery targets, wrecked close-combat servitors, and a sealed armory, with the Eagle and Lightening Bolt, both were ancient symbols of the Custodian Guard. Amongst those symbols were the sword, the lion and others besides. He spent almost three hours working on the combination, when the rustle of footsteps behind him alerted him to danger.

LeKan spun and readied his Spear, prepared to defend himself against any threat to come. From behind a row of combat-servitors, came a man. He was dressed in the long robes of an Administratum adept. He looked disheveled and had a wild, crazed look in his eyes.

"Don't you see? The four shall cast the Him down, for one could not! Don't you see it?" the adept ranted. Clearly, he had been wondering about somewhere he should not have been.

"Please calm down, adept. If you desire, I can take you back to the Adepts quarters."

"NO!' the adept screamed, his voice echoing off the walls. 'The four must be stopped or He will die finally from ten-thousand years of un-life!' The adept advanced on LeKan, still screaming off the top of his lungs. 'The four are coming! Why aren't you stopping them? You are of the Custodies! You must stop them!"

The adept was still closing with LeKan and the Captain had enough of the mans ranting. Even though, he still had turned on his vox-recorder and recorded every word. However, the adept could only be referring to the God-Emperor, but who were the four?

LeKan readied his Spear, though he could easily kill the man with one blow. A strange, whirling sound came from behind the adept.

The insane man stopped for once and slowly turned. The dozen or more heavily armed and armored close-combat training servitors, whom LeKan had discounted as unfunctional, came to life, awoken by the adepts screaming and movement. Very advanced sensor technology at work, newer training-servitors relied on tech-adepts closely monitoring their actions.

The first four, armed with swords and some form of auto-pistol, moved forward on tracks, their pistols barking. The adept stood no chance in his robes and he fell, into a pool of his own blood. He should not have been here, and paid the price.

LeKan opened fire with his Spear, the modified bolt-gun mounted on the tip roaring. The servitors, armored only in thin sheets of metal, were easy prey. The first two exploded from within from LeKan's first shots and the other two closed rapidly, wheezing smoke from exhaust pipes mounted on their backs.

They swung their rusted swords in the exact same up-down slash and LeKan blocked both with the adamantine haft of his Spear. He lashed out with his armored foot and kicked the first where its chest would be, if it were not half-machine. The servitor fell backwards, a massive dent in its chest, sparks flying. The second swung its sword again, this time in a left-right cut that LeKan deflected with his forearm. The ancient sword shattered and LeKan swung his Spear, using the power-axe to bisect the servitor. The half-man, half-machine fell apart into a pile of gears and shriveled organs.

Another four advanced, this time, they carried pair of tulwar-style chainswords, spinning in great figure-eights as the quartet advanced, again on a pair of treads. These had thicker armor, and were of better construction.

LeKan again opened fire with his Spear, this time spraying sideways to try to damage all four at once. The heavy bolts only barely penetrated, most detonating on the thick armor, to leave blackened craters. One of the servitors damaged in this fashion slumped over, smoke and oil pouring from a ruptured fuel-line. A second later, the servitor exploded, spraying shrapnel in a wide arc, destroying the servitor next to it. The other two split off and advanced in a pincer-movement, their chainswords spinning, rusted chains screaming like hell-cats.

LeKan stepped right, his Spear slashing up, carving the servitor in two. The Captain danced right again, for the other servitor had spun, twin chainswords glancing off the riveted metal floor, raising a fury of sparks and a scream of metal on metal. LeKan slashed his Spear left, cutting the ancient servitors head clean off, in a spray of oil and sparks. The decapitated machine slumped forward, chainswords resting on the floor.

The next four came forward, and LeKan braced himself for the next battle. These four carried a modified boltgun in one arm, and a glowing sword in the other. Power-swords.


	3. Unusual happenings

The latest four servitors split, two still moving towards him from the front and one each moving off to the left and right. The one on the left he immediately lost sight of, for it had moved far off in the great training hall and the one on the right circled around a large chasm in the floor and he lost sight of it behind part of the obstacle course. That was not good for him tactically at all.

LeKan began to back up, and dived behind one of the great stone pillars that held the soaring roof up, just as the two servitors to his front opened fire with their boltguns. He could hear the shells impacting on the pillar, blowing great chunks of stone and sending clouds of dust billowing around him. The Custodian heard the bolt rounds beginning to hit at different angles and LeKan leaned right and opened fire instinctively at the servitor that was trying to flank around him. He had to fire almost a dozen rounds into its chest to bring it down, for it was wearing what seemed to be equivalent in protection to powered armor. That left three. If he had not been fighting for his life, he would have marveled that such devices still functioned after ten-thousand years of neglect.

The Captain rolled around the pillar, for the servitor on the other side had opened fire again, putting a round into his hip, blowing a chunk out of the left part of his hip. Pain momentarily hit him, but then nothing, as the pain suppressors flooded into his bloodstream. The blood stopped flowing a moment later, for his larraman cells clotted the wound. Blood still seeped from his hip, but he was no longer in danger of bleeding out.

Members of the Custodian Guard had traditionally received the same organs and genetic enhancements of a Space Marine. The first members of the Guard were also the first Space Marines, and effectively tested their organs in battle, defending their Emperor as He united Terra. As the Horus Heresy unfolded, millennia later, the Custodian Guard were easily a match for any Traitor Marine, due to their same organs and enhancements.

LeKan rose to his feet, the agony in his hip cutting through the haze of the pain suppressors with a vengeance, but he had been taught to ignore such wounds and fight on until the day was won. The other servitor was still moving around the pillar, towards his last position and LeKan managed to work around behind it and he opened fire at the joint between the back plate and where its legs should have been. The weak point was no match for the bolts and the mass-reactive shells blew the servitor to hell.

There were two left, somewhere in the huge training facility and LeKan was in no state to track them down. Instead, he limped towards a great archway in the distance, where he though Haldon-Tai's directions told him to go. Actually, what the venerable tome had said was:

_From the sixth of the ten great pillars that hold the sky up, you shall see a great path through the heavens, surrounded by the guardian angels and held up by the Emperors hand. Beware though, for if you are not a true servant of the Emperor, you shall not live to pass._

LeKan hurried as fast as he could towards the arch, painfully aware of how open the area he was traveling though was. The archway was more than half a kilometer in the distance, but LeKan could easily see how huge it was, the capstone of the arch at least forty meters from the ground. LeKan was not afraid of the stern warning of the tome, for if he was not a servant of the Emperor, no one was.

The sound of gears and motors from behind him and to the left caught his attention. LeKan dropped down and spun, his Spear blazing. The servitor, caught in the open between the ancient frame of a steel ladder and a set of pockmarked targets, stood no chance.

LeKan picked himself up, fresh pain from his hip still cutting through the suppressors and resumed his journey. As he neared the archway, he could make out incredible details about the arch. It was built to look as if a giant hand was holding it up and cherubs and winged angels, carrying swords, were carved in the stone, looking down on the path under the arch. It was an awe inspiring sight and LeKan almost let his guard down, such was his fascination with the wondrous image.

From the deep darkness within the great passage, where even LeKan's enhanced eyesight had troubles seeing, came a trio of great figures. They were at least a head taller than LeKan, who was at least three meters tall in his armor and helmet. The figures, from what LeKan could make out at this distance, wore archaic power or terminator armor of some sort and had numerous sashes and badges of honor around their arms and torsos. LeKan would have to wait until he closed to see who they were and how much of a threat they were.

LeKan hurried his pace, and at two hundred meters from the figures, he finally realized who they were. They were Custodian Guard, wearing symbols that had not been seen since the Heresy, with armor that had been replaced almost eight-thousand years ago, carrying a Guardian Spear that was remarkably similar to LeKan's own.

The one in the center, wearing a red sash across his stomach with the twin-headed eagle carrying a lightening bolt emblazoned on it, raised his hand in greeting. LeKan was in awe at the sash alone. Only those who had fought at the Emperors side were allowed to wear such a cloth and those who falsely wore it were killed in the most horrific way. No one had worn such a symbol for millennia, not since the Emperor had been interred in the Golden Thorone.

"Halt Custodian and be recognized! These are dark times and if I am not satisfied, we will cut you down were you stand!" He shouted, his deep, rich voice echoing across the chamber.

"I am Captain LeKan of the 2nd Tier! Only those of the 2nd or 1st Tier or the Chief Custodian may address me with such disdain and not be punished! Identify yourself!" LeKan called back, his hands clenched around his Spear.

"There is no LeKan in the 2nd Tier! You are false and thus one of Horus's traitors!" he shouted back, his own Spear held at the ready.

"Horus is long dead and his heresy is long over!" LeKan shouted back, confusion setting in. How could this Guardian not know the Heresy was over?

"You are lying! Horus still has three legions encircling this very Palace and the Emperor is still fighting!"

"It is the fortieth millennia and Horus is ten-millennia dead, may his soul rot in agony!" LeKan spat back.

"Step forward, Captain LeKan and let us discuss what has happened, as brothers."


	4. The Traitors are found

There was some minor confusion on what the devil was going on at the end of the last chapter and I will try to correct that in this chapter. This might take a turn in a different direction than what the teaser first promised. Next, I shall be working on Infiltrator Part 3!

LeKan found himself being lead through the great labyrinth of passageways, the trio always around him, as if still untrusting of him and his 'strange' garb. His hip was still in agony, but he felt that he could run if necessary. The center figure, the one who wore the badge of honor, had introduced himself as Kimenchan, stopped suddenly and LeKan almost walked into him. They were still in the middle of the passage, which seemed to go on for miles

Kimenchan spun on his heel and carefully removed his helmet, a rush of air billowing out from the seal. Kimenchan had a long, regal face, with three golden service studs set into his skull above the brow. A ragged scar almost bisected his face; it looked like he had been slashed by a chain-blade of so sort.

"Explain again what has happened since the Heresy ended with Horus's death."

"The Emperor was mortally wounded in the battle against Horus, the very same battle that slew the great Primarch Sanguineous and was interred in the Golden Throne to keep him alive. The traitors were driven back into the Eye of Terror and the Cadian Gate established to stop the Arch-Traitor Abaddon from attacking. So much has happened; I cannot begin to describe it. But one thing I do know is that the Heresy is long over and you should be long dead." LeKan began, only to be interrupted by one of the other Guards.

"What is this, thing, the Golden Throne?"

Kimenchan cut in, "We are alive for one reason, Captain LeKan, and do not forget what I say, for I shall not repeat it again, in any company. When Horus and his legions lay siege to this very Palace, it was a very dark time. Millions were dying and the World Eaters were piling mounds of skulls that were level with the very walls themselves. Rivers of blood flowed and the Custodian Guard were battered by the constant fighting. The 4th Tier was wiped out to a man when a siege titan shattered the section of wall they were defending and the 5th Tier took 90 percent losses holding the gate when the White Scars, with Jaghatai Khan, sallied out to retake the spaceport. The 2nd and 3rd Tiers lost a huge amount of men when Angron and a company of his chosen warriors, all daemons with the forms of men, forced their way under the wall and counterattacked from behind. The men of the Tiers fought back to back for three hours until the Emperor himself, with the entire 1st Tier, hit Angron from behind and forced him back.' Kimenchan paused for a moment, his face ashen and one of his hands shaking. 'I was with the 1st Tier when we relieved them. The seventy survivors of the Tiers were defending piles of their own corpses and every single one of the dead was missing his head."

"How large were the Tiers in that age?" LeKan asked, before Kimenchan could go on.

"Each Tier was three hundred Custodians. Just three days before the three of us came down here, looking for a store of weapons guarded by Captain Haldon-Tai and his terminators, the Emperor lead us to a secluded Apothecarion, deep in the Custodian barracks. He spoke only to me and what he told me was astounding."

LeKan interrupted again, disbelief running through his mind. "You expect me to believe that the Emperor himself spoke to you?"

"I am a Custodian Guardsmen, honored with the Red Sash, with over four centuries of experience, promoted to Chief Custodian, and blessed by the Emperor himself, and I do not lie!' Kimenchan was shouting so loudly that dust sprinkled down from the ceiling high above. 'Now, if I may continue, whelp, I will finish my explanation."

"Forgive my outburst, Chief Custodian. Of course you may continue."

"What the Emperor told me shattered my devotion and honor to the core. He said that He did not expect for any of the Custodians, or himself, to survive the battle, and so wanted someone to carry on His legacy. He was planning to give each of us a blood-transfusion, so that a third of our blood came from Him, and thus, even if He was killed, He would continue to rule the Imperium for eternity. For long minutes, the Emperor gave us His blood and afterwards, we fell into a three day sleep, unable to be awoken by the Apothecaries. When we finally awoke, our only orders were to travel to Haldon-Tai's storehouse. We never found it. For what seemed like days, we wandered about, trying to find the Captain. Then, we stumbled across you."

LeKan hung his head for a moment, digesting what had just been said for a long moment, before speaking again.

"So the Emperors blood kept you alive for the last ten millennia?"

"It would seem so, Captain."

The first Custodian, who had interrupted, barged in again, his voice harsh and glaring.

"What is the Golden Throne!"

LeKan stepped out of the circle, so he could face the trio without having to turn. "The Golden Throne is an archaic piece of technology, much of whose purpose has been lost to the ages, that keeps the Emperor alive after His terrible injuries at the hands of Horus. In order to keep Him alive, though, one-thousand pyskers souls have to be sacrificed everyday."

Kimenchan stepped back in disbelief, and the two whose names LeKan did not know shook their heads in shame and clenched their weapons in anger.

"The Emperor would never allow Himself to use such a measure to sustain His life!"

Kimenchan spoke up next, anger making his voice hard. "The Emperor we knew would not do such a thing! The Emperor you worship is false and must have been corrupted during the battle with Horus!' Kimenchan turned to face the other two, speaking louder this time, 'we must remove this false Emperor from the Throne!"

LeKan was horrified, "NO! The Emperor is still true and pure! You do not understand! Those men and women willingly go to their deaths, in order to preserve the Imperium!"

Kimenchan spun sharply on his heel, brandishing his Guardian Spear, "If you cannot see the abomination that lives on the black throne, then you have been corrupted, along with this entire Imperium, and thus, do not deserve to live."

LeKan stepped back and slapped the grip of his own Spear into his hand, aiming the ancient weapon directly at Kimenchan's chest.

"What you speak of his treason and heresy in the highest degree. You are no longer fit to be Adeptus Custodes and I shall not let you live." LeKan opened fire on Kimenchan, his arms shaking with the recoil of the weapon. Kimenchan dodged the bolts inhumanly fast and stepped forward, smashing LeKan across the face with the butt of his Spear, cracking LeKan's helmet and sending him flying, to land heavily on the hard stone floor.

Kimenchan stepped forward again and laid the blade of his Spear against LeKan's throat, his face hard and set as stone. "I think that you are not fit to be a Custodian, for you have let an abomination sit on the throne of the Imperium."

"You have no say over me." With that, LeKan slapped the haft of Kimenchan's weapon aside and kicked him square in the chest with both of his feet. Kimenchan fell backwards and LeKan flipped to his feet, grabbed his Spear from where it fell and took off down the long hall. The other two Custodians opened fire on LeKan, but no bolts struck him directly. One grazed the Captains arm, but failed to detonate, another slammed into his back, knocking him off his feet.

LeKan flipped over and blazed away, forcing the two to take cover. With that, LeKan stood again and began running again, determined to warn the other Custodians of the threat within their midst.


	5. Gold Wing Part 1

LeKan was now lost in the Gold Wing, desperately trying to make sense of his surroundings and regain his sense of direction. The date-slate he had been using to map now instead showed an error message that said he was outside the known Imperial Palace and refused to map anymore. The gigantic corridor he was now in was strewn heavily with rubble and shell craters and las-burns marred the walls. Here and there, swathes of the walls and floors were blackened, most likely from flamers or plasma weapons. LeKan assumed this was from the Horus Heresy, because during the second siege by Sebastian Thor to remove Vandire, no fighting was in this particular wing. LeKan stopped, in awe of a section of the wall that was undamaged by the fighting.

The mural depicted a tall figure, in baroque and elaborate heavy armor, standing with a banner in one hand and a sword in the other. The banner showed a twin-headed eagle. Shoulder to shoulder around him, stood what only could be Custodian Guardsmen, with their distinctive tall helmets and Guardian Spears at the ready. Broken at their feet, lay hazy, indistinct shapes, but LeKan could see bits of organic looking armor and strange weapons. Greeting the figure in armor, who LeKan assumed was the Emperor, were men, hundreds of men, likely pre-Imperial humans saved by the Emperor. LeKan took a step back, from something farther up the wall caught his attention. A message was carved above the mural. It read:

**Ab imperator concilator salus cedere actuarius alaris**

**The Emperor brings salvation upon swift wings.**

LeKan took several pic-steals of the whole mural, for the Librarians would also be interested in this, and was about to turn and move on, when a tiny carving near the bottom got his attention. It was a date and location. 746M28, the purging of Galavarax. The Twenty-Eighth millenia! Fully two-thousand years before He was interred in the Golden Throne, this was possible at the beginning of the Great Crusade!

Heavy footsteps from behind him woke LeKan from his trance. LeKan spun, his weapon at the ready, prepared to sell his life against Kimenchan to protect the Emperor. Nothing was in sight. Yet the footsteps continued, echoing all around LeKan. It seemed like a dozen men were marching past him, but no one was in sight. Gradually, the steps faded down the hall. LeKan shook his head and dismissed the ghostly steps and the mural from his mind. He had to find his way back to the Custodian barracks.

Turning back the way he had been going, LeKan continued down the corridor, stopping only to press on the wall in places, trying to find any of the labyrinth passageways that would lead him back to the barracks.

The signs of battle continued to intensify and some even looked as if they had just happened. One crater was smoking… LeKan dived to one side just as a dozens of bolts ripped through were he had just been standing. LeKan stood, again behind a pillar, and cautiously looked out. There was no one there. The Captain looked back, and once again, saw no one.

LeKan stood up again, shaking his armored head. Once again, his mind was playing tricks on him. He advanced further down the hall and stumbled upon a Custodian corpse, killed by a bolt weapon. His blood was still wet. LeKan crouched down and turned the Custodians head. It was one of the three with Kimenchan. LeKan stood again, wary once more. Not only was Kimenchan somewhere around, but someone or something was stalking them in Gold Wing.

So. I don't know where to go from here if anyone wants to help me with that. Or Master of the Warp could try to take over from here. Whatever.


End file.
